Top 183 Quotes & Sayings by Jack Ma - Page 3

Don't hire the most qualified, hire the craziest

The customer is number one, the employee is number two and the shareholder is number three. If the customer is happy, the business is happy, and the shareholders are happy.

Luck is very important. Of course you can't wait for luck, because it won't come. While you start a journey, luck may eventually come to you.

A leader should be a visionary and have more foresight than an employee.

No matter how tough the chase is, you should always have the dream you saw on the first day. It'll keep you motivated and rescue you (from any weak thoughts).

Opportunity lies in the place where the complaints are.

I wanted to have a global company, so I chose a global name. Alibaba is easy to spell, and people everywhere associate that with "Open, Sesame," the command that Ali Baba used to open doors to hidden treasures in One Thousand and One Nights.

Never ever do business with the government. Be in love with them, never marry them.

What starting your company means: you will lose your stable income, your right to apply for a leave of absence, and your right to get a bonus. However, it also means your income will no longer be limited, you will use your time more effectively, and you will no longer need to beg for favours from people anymore.

When you have one million dollars, you're a lucky person. When you have 10 million dollars, you've got trouble, a lot of headaches.

No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.

Your employee should have superior technical skills than you. If he doesn't, it means you have hired the wrong person.

Always let your employees come to work with a smile.

Adopt and change before any major trends or changes.

Opportunities are where the complaints are.

Customers should be number 1, Employees number 2, and then only your Shareholders come at number 3.

I always tell myself that we are born here not to work, but to enjoy life. We are here to make things better for one another, and not to work. If you are spending your whole life working, you will certainly regret it. No matter how successful you are in your career, you must always remember that we are here to live. If you keep yourself busy working, you will surely regret it.

Rather than having small smart tricks to get by, focus on holding on and persevering.

Once in your life, try something. Work hard at something. Try to change. Nothing bad can happen.

A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understand this, the sky's the limit.

30% of all people will never believe you. Do not allow your colleagues and employees to work for you. Instead, let them work for a common goal.

We appreciate yesterday, but we're looking for a better tomorrow.

A good job isn't something you go out and find, it's something you discover while you're working.

Customers first, employees second, and shareholders third.

Forget about yourncompetitors, just focus on your customers.

The most unreliable thing in this world is human relationships.

If you want to grow, find a good opportunity. Today, if you want to be a great company, think about what social problem you could solve.

If you do not know where your competitor is, or overconfident and snobbish about your competitor, or are unable to comprehend how yourcompetitor became a real threat, you will surely fall behind him. Don't be the "they" in this idiom: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

A leader should never compare his technical skills with his employee's.

When we have money, we start making mistakes.

Global vision, local win.

You never know how much can you do in your life.

EBay may be a shark in the ocean, but I'm a crocodile in the Yangtze River. If we fight in the ocean, we lose, but if we fight in the river, we win.

If you don't give up, you still have a chance.

Don't even trust that you are able to unify what everyone is thinking; it is impossible

Life is so short, so beautiful. Don't be so serious about work. Enjoy the lives.

It doesn't matter if I failed. At least I passed the concept on to others. Even if I don't succeed, someone will succeed.

A leader should have higher endurance and ability to accept and embrace failure.

The quality of a good leader therefore is his vision, tenacity, and his capability.

If we go to work at 8 a.m. and go home at 5 p.m., this is not a high-tech company and Alibaba will never be successful. If we have that kind of 8-5 spirit, then we should just go and do something else.

A lot of people complain about yesterday. We have no power to change yesterday. But this very day, 30 years later, is what we can control and decide. Change yourself, take baby steps, and stay determined for ten years. I thank the times of change and everyone’s complaints. Because when everyone is complaining, that is your chance, an opportunity. It’s only in times of change that someone can be clear of what he has and wants, and what he needs to give up.

Today, making money is very simple. But making sustainable money while being responsible to the society and improving the world is very difficult.

Intelligent people need a fool to lead them. When the team's all a bunch of scientists, it is best to have a peasant lead the way. His way of thinking is different. It's easier to win if you have people seeing things from different perspectives.

You've to make consumers smart. An e-commerce portal doesn't sell a product at cheaper rates, instead an offline shop sells it at a costlier prices.

For ecommerce, the most important thing is trust.

I would love to, if someone would lend me the money.

A leader should have higher grit and tenacity, and be able to endure what the employees can't.

We should never finish a 20 year program in two year.

We will make it because we are young and we will never, never give up.

I am very interested in bringing companies from everywhere to sell their products in China.

Even if your competitor is still small in size or weak, you should take him seriously and treat him as a giant. Likewise, even if your competitor is massive in size, you shouldn't regard yourself as a weakling.

I try to make myself happy ... because I know that if I'm not happy, my colleagues are not happy, and my shareholders are not happy, and my customers are not happy.

In carrying out e-commerce, the most important thing is to keep doing what you are doing right now with passion, to keep it up.

Change the world is maybe Obama's job.

If the customer loves you, the government will have to love you.

If Alibaba cannot become a Microsoft or Walmart, I will regret it for the rest of my life.

If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat tons of them.

I call myself a blind man riding on a blind tiger.

You never know that the things you're doing are that meaningful to society.

All MBA have said are correct, but they can't execute it.